Gospel (Mk 10:28-31)
Peter began to say to Jesus, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.”
Commentary
Today’s Gospel passage begins with Peter’s words to Jesus: “we have left everything and followed you.” He says this because a few moments before our Lord had warned them about how difficult it is to enter the Kingdom of God, especially for those who were not willing to give up their belongings to follow Him.
Peter and the other disciples had been following our Lord on his various journeys for quite some time, and they had experienced firsthand the joy and sacrifice this entailed. Upon hearing the harsh words of Jesus, the future shepherd of the Church was filled with doubts and perhaps concern. He and the others, unlike the rich man, had given up all their material goods to follow the Master.
But Jesus reassures him and reminds him that although his disciples’ path requires being willing to carry the Cross each day, it is actually about renouncing everything that is not in accord with the new family to which they now belong, made up of many more brothers, sisters, mothers and children.
Jesus encourages Peter to realize that the path they have undertaken is entirely positive and that the various sacrifices required of us throughout our life are not arbitrary nor is their goal merely denying ourselves. Rather through them we are preparing ourselves to be worthy members of our new divine family.
Today we are reminded that we are all called to this communion of love. Therefore when it seems to us that our Christian life involves more renunciations than satisfactions, we can remember our Lord's promises, and ask Him to help us realize that this hundredfold is experienced when we joyfully share our life with the people around us, knowing that we are part of this great family, the family of God.